corsage

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *krep-der.

Proto-Italic *korpos

Latin corpus

Old French cors

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-tós

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos

Proto-Italic *-ātos

Latin -ātus

Proto-Indo-European *-kos

Proto-Indo-European *-ikos

Proto-Italic *-ikos

Latin -icus

Latin -āticus

Latin -āticum

Old French -age

Middle French -age

French -age

French corsagebor.

English corsage

Borrowed from French corsage.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /kɔːˈsɑːʒ/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /kɔɹˈsɑʒ/

Noun

corsage (plural corsages)

1. A small bouquet of flowers, originally worn attached to the bodice of a woman's dress.
   • 2011, “The Weekend” (32:42 from the start), in Homeland, season 1, episode 7, spoken by Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes):

     Brody (Damian Lewis): Will you go to the prom with me? / Carrie: Do I get a corsage?

   • 2025, S.E. Case, chapter 1, in Rigsby WI‎^[1], volume 1: Foothold, →ISBN, retrieved 28 August 2025, page 82:

     Here, I got a corsage for you to give to Jenna. I don't know if kids still do corsages. I always got ones for Darius' girlfriends. This one is made with lilies.

2. (now historical) The waist or bodice of a woman's dress.
   • 1932, Dorothy L. Sayers, chapter XVIII, in Have His Carcase:

     She now selected a slinky garment, composed of what male writers call “some soft, clinging material,” with a corsage which outlined her figure and a skirt which waved tempestuously around her ankles.

3. (obsolete) The size or shape of a person's body.

Translations

bodice of a woman's dress

• Bulgarian: корсаж m (korsaž)
• French: corsage (fr) m
• Indonesian: korsase (id)
• Japanese: コサージュ (ja) (kosāju), コルサージュ (ja) (korusāju)
• Portuguese: corpete m
• Spanish: corpiño (es) m

small bouquet of flowers

• French: petit bouquet m
• Indonesian: korsase (id)
• Japanese: コサージュ (ja) (kosāju), コルサージュ (ja) (korusāju)

See also

• nosegay
• bouquet
• posy

Anagrams

• cargoes, socager

French

Etymology

From Old French cors (“body”) +‎ -age.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔʁ.saʒ/

• Audio (Nancy):

  (file)

Noun

corsage m (plural corsages)

1. (obsolete) body, torso
2. (historical) bodice, corsage
3. blouse, camisole; top

Descendants

• → English: corsage

Further reading

• “corsage”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012